Failing grades put Oscar Patterson's future in question

“This is not about what can’t happen, but what can happen because we speak to potential,” Principal Darnita Rivers said.

ERYN DION News Herald Reporter @PCNHErynDion

PANAMA CITY — A final vote after an emotional and at times heated meeting of the Oscar Patterson Elementary School Oversight Committee on Thursday night recommended the struggling school be taken over by an outside entity.

Members of the committee and the community at large made the move as the school, in turnaround status for the last two years because of low school grades, failed to rise above a “C” grade last year, instead earning an “F”. Per the new education law HB 7069, which went into effect July 1, the school district now must decide among three new turnaround options provided by the Florida Department of Education.

The options, as detailed in a memo sent to Bay District Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt in mid-October by the DOE, were for the school to be closed and students transferred to a higher performing school; the school to be closed and reopened as one or more charter schools with a proven track record with turnaround schools; or for the district to contract with an outside entity, which could include a “district-managed” charter school, to oversee operations.

Patterson is one of 37 schools across the state entering into this uncharted territory for the DOE, and the only one in Bay County.

DOE officials were on hand to answer questions from the community regarding the choices; however, a perceived lack of clarity about some of the choices, particularly the difference between a regular charter and a district-managed charter, led many members of the community to become frustrated.

“Our role is to support and assist schools in these situations,” said Wayne Green, DOE lead regional executive director. “This is not a comfortable situation for us.”

Even School Board Attorney Franklin Harrison sought clarity on the definition of a district-managed charter, which is listed in the memo only as a charter school in “which all instructional personnel are not employees of the school district, but are employees of an independent governing board comprised of members who did not participate in the review or approval of the charter.”

Only one school district in Florida, Miami-Dade, has district-managed charter schools, and Melissa Ramsey, executive director for school improvement, pointed to those schools as examples without elaborating further. The popular understanding, however, is that the district would have more negotiating room when dealing with a district-managed charter than dealing with an ordinary charter school.

Patterson Principal Darnita Rivers urged everyone at the meeting to remember that “it’s not about us, it’s about the kids.”

“There is work to be done with our children, and I don’t want to be distracted,” she said.

For people in attendance, many of whom attended Patterson themselves as children, none of the options were good options, with many asking why the district did not provide more resources to help improve student performance, why they were only just finding out about the situation the day a decision needed to be made and why they had only those three choices.

District officials countered that they had provided resources and incentives, including a $10,000 bonus for teachers who came to work at Patterson and were rated “highly successful,” but no teachers took them up on the offer last year, and only two came this year. Communications Director Sharon Michalik, who up until a few months ago was head of the district’s Human Resources department, said she held job fairs and approached graduates from the nearby colleges with their “best” starting teacher packages for Patterson.

“We recruit first for here, every time,” she said.

The attendees, largely, said they distrust charter schools because of the lack of accountability, but they also distrust the district. Patterson, one speaker pointed out, is the only historically black school in the district left open, after AD Harris and Rosenwald High School closed.

Also of concern is a federal consent decree established in 1988, stating the district must aim to keep Patterson’s student population no more than 50 percent black. Should the school close, that decree would be void; however, it is uncertain whether it will hold up if the school changes hands.

In the end, 17 people selected the third option, having an outside entity take over Patterson, as the most preferable; however, 16 people either did not choose or wrote in another option. The vote will be sent to Husfelt, who will take the recommendation into consideration and ultimately will decide which option to move forward with.

Should Patterson earn a “C” school grade this year, the process will be stopped. Officials in Tallahassee also can grant an extension if they believe it is likely the school will achieve a “C” grade if it continues along the current turnaround plan. Rivers said many times that she was optimistic about the progress Patterson students had been making, adding that they were two points from a “D” grade last year, and that she and her staff will work hard toward that passing grade.

“This is not about what can’t happen, but what can happen because we speak to potential,” she said.

According to the timeline provided by the DOE, it is recommended that the district have a signed contract with the entity to manage Patterson by Jan. 31, 2018. School grades are set to be released in July 2018.

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